Field Guides:
Mcmullan, M., Donegan, T and Quevedo, A. Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Newest field guide for Colombia available. Very portable and includes migratory species.
Hilty, S. L. and W. L. Brown. Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 1986. A classic and your best source for Colombia bird identification. Fine source of information on voice, behavior, breeding and status and habitat, range maps for almost all species.
Restall, R., C. Rodner, and M. Lentino. Birds of Northern South America. Vol. 2. Plates and maps. Christopher Helm, London. More up-to-date taxonomy and very different color plate style, but similar in size and weight, to previous book. Covers seven countries (over 7000 images) which complicates field use because of large number of illustrations.
Natural History:
Hilty, Steven. Birds of Tropical America: A Watcher’s Introduction to Behavior, Breeding and Diversity. University of Texas Press, 2005. Highly recommended for background information on how things work in bird communities in tropical latitudes.
Kricher, John C. A Neotropical Companion. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989. Excellent broad-based resource on just about everything from plants and birds to insects, herps and mammals in the Neotropics.
Snow, David. The Web of Adaptation: Bird Studies in the American Tropics. Quadrangle, New York Times Book Co.: Demeter Press, 1976. A classic. Deals with fruit-eating birds and their adaptations in the American tropics.
Travel:
National Geographic Traveler: Colombia, 2nd Edition Paperback – January 3, 2017
by Christopher Baker (Author)
Lonely Planet Colombia (Travel Guide)
Colombia (National Geographic Adventure Map) Map – Folded Map, August 31, 2012
Colombia: Spanish Travel Phrases for English Speaking Travelers: The most useful 1.000 phrases to get around when traveling in Colombia Paperback – September 2, 2015
by Sarah Retter (Author)
Colombian Literature:
Gabriel García Márquez, Gregory Rabassa (Translator). Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Oct 7, 2003
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera. Oprah’s Book Club, Oct 5, 2007
Gabriel García Márquez . Of Love and Other Demons. Vintage International, June 10, 2008
Other readings:
- General:
Colombia: A Concise Contemporary History 2nd Edition
by Michael J. LaRosa (Author), Germán R. Mejía (Author), Pamela S. Murray (Foreword) - About Cartagena:
Moon Cartagena & Colombia’s Caribbean Coast (Moon Handbooks) Paperback – October 25, 2016 by Andrew Dier (Author) - Children:
Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia Hardcover – June 8, 2010
by Jeanette Winter (Author, Illustrator)
- Recordings:
Alvarez, M., V. Caro, O. Laverde and A. M. Cuervo. Guía sonora de las aves de los Andes Colombianos (A Guide to the Bird Sounds of the Colombian Andes). CD discs 1-7. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. 2007. Good source for bird sound recordings for the Andes of Colombia (over 600 species). Songs are not introduced at beginning of each track (follow with booklet)
Photo:
Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus). Valle del Cauca. © Juan Jose Arango/VWPics
